Apparatus for copying body contour



Aug. 27, 1968 K. M. E. sE'rklL/R 3,398,455

APPARATUS FOR COPYING BODY CONTOUR Filed June 30, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

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7, 1968 K. M. E. sETiiL/i APPARATUS FOR COPYING BODY CONTOUR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 50, 1965 .65 l lllllllllllll I l Llllllllllillllllll Illl FIG. 3

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INVENTOR KAI MARTIN EDVARD SETALA BY W ATTORN EYS United States Patent 3,398,455 APPARATUS FOR COPYING BODY CONTOU Kai Martin Edvard Setiilii, Uudenkaupungintie 8,

Helsinki, Finland Filed June 30, 1965, Ser. No. 468,329 Claims priority, application Finland, July 6, 1964, 1,443/64 13 Claims. 01. 3s 174 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rotatable frame is provided to rotate about an axis of a horizontal examination table; at the outer end of the frame, a traverse rotatable copying base is mounted in such a manner to maintain a constant angular attitude to the horizontal plane of the table in all positions of the rotatable frame; a sensing rod which is slidably supported on the frame and extends from the copying base toward the table, follows the contour of the patients body lying on the table; and a recording instrument attached to the sensing rod records the contour on the copying base.

This invention relates to an apparatus for copying the cross sectional contour of a patients body, and in particular to an apparatus for reproducing the contour of a platient lying horizontally on an examination table or the In many forms of treatment, it is of great/value, if not of necessity, for the doctor or surgeon to have an exact knowledge of the body contour of the patient at a given area of the patients body. For instance, in the treatment of malignant tumors by radiation, a knowledge of the body contour permits the treating radiologist to direct the radiation towards precisely the desired location without irradiating the surrounding healthy tissues, whereby most effective use is made of the radiation while the surrounding sensitive tissues are not injured by the radiation.

The most prevalent means of determining the patients body contour is by an indirect method such as the forming of a girdle-like structure around the patient in which the structure is then opened and a cross section thereof is manually copied onto a piece of paper. This procedure suffers from many disadvantages in that it is time consuming, cumbersome, inexact, and the contour found thereby is not accurately reproduceable. Furthermore, the patient, in this procedure, is generally in a sitting position whereas during the radiation treatment the patient is generally in a horizontal position. The body contour of the patient in the lying position is significantly different from the contour in the sitting postion so that errors occur when the contour is taken in the sitting position and the treatment is to be made in the lying position, as is the common practice.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which provides for rapid and accurate copying of a patients body contour, paricularly in a lying position in which there is a one-to-one size correspondence, and which can be taken at any portion of the body.

In this invention a frame is rotatably mounted about the examination table and in a plane transverse, preferably to the longitudinal axis thereof. At the portion of the frame, remote from the table, there is rotatably mounted a copying base parallel with the rotation plane of the frame; the rotational position of the copying base with reference to the table being fixed. A sensing rod is mounted on the frame and extends from the copying base to the patient and is movable in its longitudinal direction. At the other end of the rod, and directed toward the copying base, a recording instrument is provided. When the frame is rotated and the end of the sensing rod, which ice is directed toward the patient, follows the body contour of the patient, this contour is exactly copied on the copying base to which a sheet of papers is attached.

According to a preferred embodiment of this invention the frame is supported on a nonrotatable ring surrounding the table. It is preferable that the copying base be circular in form and that it have a diameter equal to that of the nonrotatable ring. The copying base and the ring are so coupled together that the rotational position of the copying base is maintained unchanged in all positions of the frame, the movable sensing rod being situated on a line parallel to the line connecting the centers of the copying base and the ring.

The copying base and the non-rotating ring can be coupled together by means of a wire, a string, a chain, or other similar transmission elements which pass around the peripheries thereof. This transmission element may be passed around a pulley, supported on the frame, to permit the changing of the rotational position of the frame by the turning of the pulley.

The copying base and the nonrotating ring may alternatively be coupled together by means of a friction wheel, a tooth wheel or the like, in contact with the peripheries thereof.

To provide for the optimum operation of this invention the sensing rod which extends from the copying base to the patient is given a reciprocating motion by means of a motor, and the end of the sensing rod, which is directed toward the patient, is provided with a switching element which when in contact with the patients skin causes the movement in the sensing rod to stop and reverse, and also triggers the recording instrument to make a mark on the copying base.

The frame may be rotated by means of a motor, but it has been found preferable to rotate the frame manually whereby the rotation velocity of the frame can be chosen as desired so that a greater number of marks may be made on the copying base at the more curved regions of the body contour.

To avoid the necessity of changing the patients position on the examining table, when the copies of the body contour are being made, the frame, along with the associated elements, is arranged to be movable longitudinally to the table.

To permit central positioning of the patient on the table, the longitudinal axis of the table is marked and the table itself is made of a transparent material so that it is possible to bring the center line of the patient in coincidence with the longitudinal axis of the table as viewed from below. The work of the attendants is also facilitated by the placing of a mirror beneath the table which is so positioned that the longitudinal axis of the table and the patients center line can be observed in this mirror.

It is further possible to check the position of the patient by means of a projector placed beneath the table which reflects a beam of light, having a cross hair, through the table onto the patients skin. A corresponding cross or scale can be marked on the patients skin, in coincidence with the cross hair which is projected from beneath the table, to permit the placing of the patient in the same position on the table over a repeated series of treatments.

Further objects and features of this invention may be had with reference to the detailed specification below and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to this invention;

FIG. 2 shows this invention as viewed from the end of the examination table;

FIG. 3 shows the table with the longitudinal axis marked thereon; and

{116. 4 is' the-apparatus FIG. having ---a splitted are attached support shanks 9 situated ,in the plane of the ring. The rotatable ring 8 and thesupport shanks 9, together constitute the'frame. On the'support shanks. 9. a circular copying base 10, having a diameter equal to that of the lnonr'otatable ring 7, is rotatably mounted-The copying base and the nonrotatable ring are connected to each other by means of a wire 1 1, in such a manner that the angular attitude of the copying base in relation to the horizontal plane of the table is maintained unchanged in all positions of the frame 8 and 9.- The coupling between the copying base and the nonrotatable ring may also be achieved by the use of a friction Wheel, tooth wheel, or similar coupling means mounted between and in contact with the outer peripheries of the nonrotatable ring and the copying base.

The rotational position of the copying base can be kept constant by positioning the center of gravity of the copying base at the lower edge thereof.

A pulley 12 is mounted on the support shanks 9 and the wire 11 is passed around the pulley so that the/frame can be rotated by the turning of said pulley.

'Slide rails 13 are attached to the support shanks 9 and extend on the front side of the copying base 10. On these rails a sensing rod 14 is mounted, situated parallel to the plane of the copying base and extending from the copying base to the patient lying 'on the table. Rod 14 is arranged to be movable in a longitudinal reciprocating movement by means of an electrically operated driving element 15. Sensing rod 14 is directed toward the center of rotation of the frame which is, in this case, toward the longitudinal axis of the table plate 6. The end of the rod 14, which faces the table, is provided with a sensitive microswitch 16 which, upon contacting the patients skin, causes the movement of the rod to instantaneously stop and reverse. At the opposite end of the'rod 14 is provided a recorder (not shown) which is also actuated by the switch 16. The recorder is triggered by the switch 16 to make a mark on a sheet of paper attached to the copying base 10. To position the patient with respect to the table, a scaled longitudinal axis 17 is marked on the examination table plate 6. Beneath the table plate, a projector 18 is connected to a nonrotatable ring 7 to reflect a beam of light with a cross hair via mirror 19 through the table plate 6 and onto the skin of the patient. Also beneath the table plate 6 there is attached to the nonrotatable ring, a mirror 20 in which the surface of the downward facing portion of the patients body can be readily observed.

When the apparatus is used, pulley 12 is turned to rotate the framearound the ring 7. The rod 14 reciprocates constantly and the recorder produces points on the paper sheets 21. When the frame has rotated 180 degrees from a starting position, as shown in FIG. 2, in the direc tion of the arrow, the contour of the upper portion of the patients body is marked on the paper by means of these closely located points. The entire operation requires about approximately 30 seconds. To facilitate the turning of the frame, a counter weight 22 is attached to the lower portion of the rotatable ring 8. As shown the apparatus does not produce a contour of the lower portion of the patients body. This may not be necessary as the lower portion of the patients body is in part plane as it is pressed against the plane table plate 6.

r a s --As shownin FIG. 4,---it is possible to arrange the apparatus to copy the contour of the opposite side of the patients body, as well, by making the table plate 6 to consist of two portions 6a and 6b having a distance 60 therebetween at the region again'st the sensing rod 14 and being provided with'suflicientfree space underneath the table, to permitthe frame to ro'tate afull revolution of 360 degrees. v v j f Eurthermore, it is possible ,to place'the'patientdn the opposite position, or in this case, a prone position, so that the copying base is turned 18Qdegrees and the copying described above is repeated. In this manner two diagrams are produced on the same'sheet which, when taken together, describe the entire body contour of the patient.

It is to be understood that the above embodiment as described is intended only to illustrate one possible embodiment of this invention. The actual scope of this inyention should be determined therefore by the attached claims. Whatis claimed is: I p v -1. An apparatus for copying body contour of a patient lying on an examination table, comprising: a frame I mounted on said table for rotation about an axis fixed with respect to said table; a copying base mounted on said frame for movement therewith and for rotation relative thereto about an axis parallel to said fixed axis; a sensing rod supported on said frame for longitudinal movement generally toward and away from said fixed axis and extending from the copying base to a point near said fixed axis; a recording instrument connected to said rod and adapted to inscribe a line on said copying base upon relative movement between said instrument and said copying base; and a copying base control means for controlling said rotation of said copying base relative to said frame so that the angular attitude of said copying base is maintained in fixed relation to said table during rotation of said frame. I

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 further compris: ing a nonrotatable ring surrounding said table and supporting said frame.

3. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein said copying base is circular in form and has a diameter equal to that of said nonrotatable ring and wherein said copying base and .said ring are so coupled together that the angular attitude of said copying base is maintained in fixed relation to the plane of said table in all positions of said frame and the movable sensing rod being situated parallel to the line connecting the centers of said copying base and said ring.

4. An apparatus as recited in claim 3 further comprising a transmission element coupling said copying baseand said nonrotatable ring, said transmission element passing around the outer peripheries of said nonrotatable ring and said copying base.

5. An apparatus as recited in claim 4 further comprising a pulley supported on said frame around which said transmission element is passed whereby the turning of said pulley changes the rotational position of said frame.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 3 further comprising a driving wheel mounted between and in contact with the peripheries of said nonrotatable ring and said copying base, for coupling said nonrotatable ring and said copying base together.

7. Apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the center of gravity of said copying base is arranged at the lower edge thereof. t g

8. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 further comprising means for producing reciprocating motion in said sensing rod and a sensitive switch provided at the end of said sensing-rod which is directed towards the patient, said sensitive switch being connected to said reciprocatingmo tion producing means to stop and reverse movement of said rodxwhensaid switch is activated, said switchbeing also connected to a recording instrument to make a mark on said copying base when said switch is activated, said 5 6 switch being activated when the sensing rod contacts the prising a projector placed beneath said transparent table patients skin. for reflecting a beam of light and a cross hair through 9. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said frame said table onto the patients skin. is arranged to be movable longitudinally of said table. 13. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said 10. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said table 5 table plate consists of two portions having a distance thereis made of a transparent material and a line is marked between. along the longitudinal axis of said table. References Cited 11. An apparatus as recited in claim 10 further com- UNITED STATES PATENTS prising a mirror mounted beneath said transparent table, so positioned that the longitudinal axis of the table and 10 2,721,939 10/1955 Gat e5 et a1 33 23 the center line of the patient lying on said table can be 2,789,354 4/1957 Pohdar et a1 33-474 observed in said mirror.

12. An apparatus as recited in claim 11 further com- SAMUEL MATTHEWS! Pfimmy Examine"- 

